Samuel L. Jackson, who appeared as Nick Fury in ‘Iron Man’ (post credits) and ‘Iron Man 2′, is finally getting his own shot at the spotlight in ‘The Avengers’, but he’ll be sharing it with a hot brunette sidekick.

In an effort to avoid penning a 700-page dissertation on the specific facets of Cobie Smulders&rsquo; infinite hotness, we&rsquo;ll sum it up like this: Oh my god. Best known as that dorky Canadian newscaster chick from the CBS sitcom &ldquo;How I Met Your Mother,&rdquo; Smulders is set to grace the cover of the December issue of Maxim. And based on a set of prints leaked from the shoot, it looks like that particular issue is going to fly off the racks faster than most. If you want a copy, they&rsquo;ll all be here at the Screenjunkies office. But you&rsquo;ll have to fight us with katana swords to get one. We&rsquo;ve been practicing.
A word from Cobie: &ldquo;I had no idea what I wanted to do after college, but acting seemed like a good start.&rdquo;
More pics after the jump…